I spent most of the morning in a bit of a funk. We finally called it quits on the Broncos-Patriots game sometime after 11pm last night, when they were ahead 24-0. Apparently, so did the Broncos. During the night we turned on ESPN just to catch an update and were disbelieving about what we were hearing. As soon as I logged onto wifi this morning, I received distressed texts (with rows of !!!!) from the twins. Guys, I share your pain.
So, not the happiest morning, but we are on a cruise ship and it's impossible to remain inconsolable for long.
Arrival into Bonaire was not until noon, due to the distance the Emerald Princess had to travel from Grenada yesterday. It provided the opportunity for a welcome sleep-in, not that we took advantage of it. But we did notice, when we were up early, that the ship was particularly quiet this morning. We started our day in the usual way, with coffee to go from the IC (and I think the crew there is selected for their sunny dispositions), and then breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room.
Arrival into Bonaire, cruising past Klein (Little) Bonaire is a beautiful thing, and I plugged in my ear buds and went up to the jogging track on Deck 19 to walk and watch as we approached the island. It was a bright, sunny day (we've been quite lucky with weather this cruise!), but thankfully not too hot and windy...yet. While I made my laps, I frequently stopped to take photos. The water here is just so incredibly blue and clear!
So, not the happiest morning, but we are on a cruise ship and it's impossible to remain inconsolable for long.
Arrival into Bonaire was not until noon, due to the distance the Emerald Princess had to travel from Grenada yesterday. It provided the opportunity for a welcome sleep-in, not that we took advantage of it. But we did notice, when we were up early, that the ship was particularly quiet this morning. We started our day in the usual way, with coffee to go from the IC (and I think the crew there is selected for their sunny dispositions), and then breakfast in the DaVinci Dining Room.
Arrival into Bonaire, cruising past Klein (Little) Bonaire is a beautiful thing, and I plugged in my ear buds and went up to the jogging track on Deck 19 to walk and watch as we approached the island. It was a bright, sunny day (we've been quite lucky with weather this cruise!), but thankfully not too hot and windy...yet. While I made my laps, I frequently stopped to take photos. The water here is just so incredibly blue and clear!
This storm to the north blew directly west and never affected us.
Sunny Kralendjik
These sailboats are moored right at the edge of where the reef drops off.
As we approached the dock, the wind coming across the island intensified and it took nearly 45 minutes to get the Emerald Princess safely along side and docked, with the thrusters running during the entire process to keep the ship in place. Most likely for this reason, they were unable to set up a safe midship gangway, forcing everyone to exit at the forward gangway. A late arrival with just one gangway is a recipe for congestion, and we sure had it for awhile, but, luckily, within an hour or so, a midship gangway was able to be opened.
More lines are required to hold the Emerald Princess against the pier.
We decided to take a walk down the sidewalk along the water, but it didn't take long for us to realize that it was beastly hot today, with unrelenting sun. Everyone was soggy with sweat and it was obvious that today was meant to be spent either in the water or A/C. G and I turned right around and headed back to the ship, deciding that lunch in the dining room held more appeal than anything else right then. Afterwards, I needed to do a bit of work, and so stayed on the ship to use wifi while everyone else was off and it was a bit speedier, and G walked off the ship again to explore a bit more as long as he could stand the heat.
I eventually completed what I needed to do and decided the aft hot tub and/or pool was the only other place I wanted to spend the afternoon. G was of like mind, and he soon showed up, having taken a walk down to the Divi Flamingo Resort and back. The P&O Azura was scheduled to sail at 5pm, and so we were showered, ready for dinner and out on the front of Deck 8, but it was obvious they were still missing someone(s) as the gangway was still down at 5:30pm. Finally we spotted two of their passengers running down the pier and up the gangway, accompanied by abuse being hurled their way by all the passengers on the Azura's open decks. The gangway was lifted, but the Azura was being held against the strong wind by as many lines as we were, and we lost interest as they began to be loosened and lifted from the ballards and went down to dinner.
It was Italian night in the dining room, and apparently there's been enough time distanced since we ate homemade spaghetti sauce non-stop before we left home, because I had pasta arrabbiata with chicken breast and steamed broccoli and enjoyed every bite. The orange sorbet we both had for dessert was amazing (but then Princess doesn't make an ice cream I like or a sorbet I don't).
We were done with dinner just in time to step out on the Promenade Deck and watch the lights of Kralendjik disappear as the Emerald Princess sailed away shortly after 7pm. Not in the mood for a show tonight (production show Boogie Shoes was in the Princess Theater; a mentalist was performing to a standing room only audience in the Explorers Lounge), we decided it was time to check out all the musical entertainment on board. Party band New Deal hasn't caught our eye (or is it ear?), but we discovered we enjoy steel drum-keyboard duo Sugar Cane, Playthoven on violin and cello (but highly synthesized cello generally played with a pick instead of a bow) and surprised ourselves by liking Rhumba Duo in the Wheelhouse. Honestly, so much of the music on ships these days is on tracks...we joked that one day soon all the musical acts will be solos.
We're back in our cabin to change for Monday Night Football on MUTS. With no dog in this fight, it shouldn't be quite as wrenching tonight.